The PCB industry constitutes the largest segment by production value within the global electronic components sector. In 2022, the total global output value of PCBs reached US$81.74 billion. In 2023, this figure declined to US$69.517 billion-a 15% decrease compared to 2022-primarily due to weak demand, oversupply, inventory destocking, and pricing pressures, which resulted in varying degrees of decline across all sub-segments of the PCB industry. In 2024, driven by factors such as the growth of AI servers and related high-speed network infrastructure, as well as a recovery in the smartphone market, the global PCB output value is projected to reach US$73.565 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.8%.
Looking ahead, propelled by factors such as decarbonization and digitalization, downstream application sectors for PCBs-including 5G communications, cloud computing, smartphones, smart vehicles, and new energy vehicles-are expected to experience robust growth. This flourishing of downstream industries will, in turn, drive sustained growth in the demand for PCBs. According to forecasts by Prismark, the global PCB market is expected to maintain steady growth over the next five years; from 2024 to 2029, the global PCB output value is projected to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2%, with the market anticipated to reach a total value of US$94.661 billion by 2029.
The PCB industry is widely distributed globally, with developed nations and regions-specifically the United States, Europe, and Japan-having established an early lead. Prior to 2000, these three major regions collectively accounted for over 70% of the global PCB industry's total output value. However, over the past two decades, leveraging advantages in labor, resources, government policies, and industrial clustering-particularly within Asia, and most notably in China-global electronic manufacturing capacity has shifted toward Asian regions, including mainland China, Taiwan, and South Korea. As the global industrial hub migrated to Asia, the PCB sector has evolved into a new landscape centered on Asia-and specifically mainland China-as its primary manufacturing base. Since 2006, mainland China has surpassed Japan to become the world's largest PCB production hub, leading the globe in both production volume and output value.
The proportion of global PCB output value contributed by mainland China has surged from 8.1% in 2000 to 56.0% in 2024, establishing the region as the world's leading production and supply center for PCBs. According to forecasts by Prismark, Asia is expected to continue dominating the growth of the global PCB market over the next five years, with China's central position becoming even more firmly entrenched. The PCB industry in mainland China is projected to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8%, with its total output value expected to reach US$49.7 billion by 2029.
